


Something Lost, Something Found

by HanShaped (Herra_Sombra)



Series: Jumping Through Dimensions [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: And Ends Up Seeing Someone He Thought Was Gone Forever, Basically Ford's Trying to Escape Bill's Henchmen, Dimension Jumper AU, F/M, Post-Portal Incident, Unexpected Meeting, hopelessness, the Nightmare Realm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 10:45:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12107025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herra_Sombra/pseuds/HanShaped
Summary: He lost his home. He lost his brother. He lost hope of saving the universe. He even lost his glasses.And now he was on the verdge of losing his life.He thought it was over. He'd never go back, and that crazy demon would still have a chance to wreck havoc on his poor world.He was about to give in, and yet he found something—someone—that changed everything.





	Something Lost, Something Found

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hntrgurl13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hntrgurl13/gifts).



> Adeline Marks belongs to wondreful [Hunter](https://hntrgurl13.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> And as I simply adore her Dimension Jumper AU, I couldn't help myself but write something to that AU.
> 
> That little ficlet is a mix of what we can read in Journal 3 about Ford's first moments in the Nightmare Realm and [that great comic](https://hntrgurl13.tumblr.com/post/142053635512/dimension-jumper-au-where-addi-didnt-time-jump).
> 
> Hope you'll like it! ;)

A heart furiously thumping in his chest.

It was all Stanford was able to hear at the moment, ringing in his ears. With adrenaline still flowing through his veins, he tried to clear his mind as best as he only could. After all, he had to figure something out, as much as his discarded thoughts prevented him from doing so. _Just focus_ , he scolded himself silently, squeezing his eyes shut.

At first, after he had fallen into the portal, he had thought that he'd actually died and found himself in heaven (not that he believed in the existence of a sacred God's realm, that is). That had been until the brightness gave way to swirling colours and a pure chaos. Gradually, he had begun to understand what his former assistant might have seen. And that sight had been far from being in any way hopeful. That meant he was stuck in a place that had clearly earned its name, most probably without a chance to ever return home.

He could feel a rough surface of a cavern's stony wall, brushing against his fingertips. The idea of hiding in that crater turned out to be quite brilliant, as monsters that had just been hot on his heels had rushed past its entrance, not even thinking about peeking inside. Despite that, he still did his best to be as quiet as possible, afraid of attracting more than unwanted attention.

Then, to Stanford's quite understandable horror, the eerily sinister voice reached his ears one more time. “ _Sixer wants to play hide-and-seek!,_ ” it singsonged, apparently overjoyed, although with a barely audible strain of irritation. “ _First one to find him and bring him to me gets their own galaxy._ ”

The words were followed by Bill's maniac laughter, soon echoed by different creatures, both small and big, which seemed to fill the whole Nightmare Realm with a plethora of peculiar sounds that sent a chill down Stanford's spine. Nevertheless, rather than dread, it appeared to ignite a weird kind of energy inside of him. His fists clenched, and in spite of almost overwhelming fatigue all he suddenly wanted to do was to jump out of his cover and confront the demon face to face, even if it meant that he would most possibly be almost immediately caught.

However, before he had a chance to do anything crazy or stupid, he heard some weird noises right behind him. Startled, he turned abruptly towards a deeper part of the cave. His reason told him that it might be one or—in the worst-case scenario—even more henchmen of that triangular beast. Maybe they were hiding there, waiting for the appropriate moment? He couldn't ponder that guess much longer, as something caught his attention. A faint purplish glow, illuminating the walls of the cavern, seemed to have its source somewhere further, out of Stanford's sight.

For a moment he tried to figure what was possibly the best step to take in such a situation. Staying where he was and listening for any distressing sounds seemed as the safest option, and yet his curiosity won over, and he slowly started walking into depths of the cave. An insanely naïve idea came to his mind—maybe it was someone—or something—that could actually help him?

As he got closer to the source of that strange light, he started to pick up muffled voices, speaking in a language he wasn't able to recognise, not that it came as a surprise to him. Their tone seemed calm and hushed, without any excitement or anticipation; they didn't sound like they belonged to someone in a pursuit of a great prize. Therefore, Stanford concluded, it was highly unlikely that those were Bill's henchmaniacs.

Before he could find himself closer to those talking creatures, a piece of rock crunched under his feet. He winced, hoping that it wasn't loud enough to alarm the hiding beings. Unfortunately, the dead silence that quickly followed indicated otherwise. He gulped, as the light grew even more dim, leaving him almost in complete darkness.

He did his best to pick up any sounds that might give away anyone approaching, yet fruitlessly. It was silent for what seemed like an eternity, before shuffles of a few pairs of legs eventually reached him. He didn't have time to even react, when he found himself being shoved to the ground with a great amount of force. He was barely able to secure his landing with his hands.

Dizziness took over his mind for a moment, as he tried to take a closer look at the creatures, towering above him. Even in the darkness, they appeared to be quite blurry, and Stanford started to suspect that there was a chance he had suffered a head trauma, and because of the adrenaline he was incapable of registering the pain at the moment. Soon that suspicion became irrelevant, as he realised that something was missing from the top of his nose.

Oh no.

_His glasses_.

He felt panic rising in his chest. He didn't have a second spare pair, he had never thought he would ever need so many. If Bill's henchmen chasing after him and the unknown creatures surrounding him hadn't been making his situation bad enough, now he wouldn't even get to see who or what had just captured him. And how was he supposed to fight for his life almost on the brink of being blind?

He started to search frantically around him, wishing that the glasses hadn't fallen to far away from him. His rapid movements seemed to alarm the creatures, and suddenly something cold and smooth touched his chin. For a second he feared that this was it—that he would die here, in that dark cave, killed by some unknown creatures, his body left to rot. However, nothing sliced his throat; instead, he felt his head being slowly raised, so that he was facing what he assumed was a fuzzy form of one of the creatures.

“Who are you?! Where did you come from?!” Their voice was harsh and a bit subdued, as if something was covering their mouth. Even though Stanford wasn't able to see their face, he could swear there was something distinctly feminine about them and familiar at the same time.

Only after a few moments it dawned on him that the creature had somehow gotten to know English. He was ready to say something, when the tip of the thing pressed to his chin lightly touched his throat. “Wait!,” he exclaimed, raising his hand in what he hoped was a peaceable gesture. “Please, I'm confused and I can't see,” he tried to explain, hoping that the creature would show him some mercy. “If you'll just—”

Then he heard what he could swear was a slight gasp. The cold thing suddenly disappeared, and the creature before him crouched, reaching for something on the ground. “Here try these…” This time their voice was a complete contradiction to how it had sounded just minutes ago—all calm and comforting, it struck Stanford that he'd already had to hear it somewhere.

He felt a weight being placed on his open palm. “Th-thanks…,” he muttered, placing the glasses back on the tip of his nose.

The creature stood back upright, hiding what turned out to be a huge sword under their cloak. “It can't be…,” they whispered, their tone so emotional that Stanford upon hearing it couldn't help but look up.

“Pardon?” He furrowed his eyebrows, more and more convinced that that creature was actually a human. Which posed a question, how someone else other than him could have gotten here and still be alive.

Unless…

The creature reached to their face and slowly pulled down a rug covering their mouth, as well as a pair of dark glasses, finally revealing their face. “Stanford?” Her voice was full of disbelief, merged with both relief and dread.

All he could do was sit there, as if he had turned to stone. The world around him seemed to freeze, everything motionless except for that unique face he'd thought he wouldn't get to see in this life ever again.

_Adeline_.

He noticed a few bruises and scratches on her cheeks and a forehead, as well as dark circles under her eyes. She also appeared to be thinner than he remembered, but all those things didn't matter, because she was _alive_.

_Adeline was alive_.

Although he desperately wanted to say something—anything really—he couldn't find his voice, all the words stuck in his dry throat. He just watched as she turned to her companions and mumbled something in that weird tongue. Their exchange was short, and soon after they went back to the deeper part of the cave, leaving the two humans behind.

She looked at him again, slowly leaning down. When she was at his eye level, she slowly reached her hand and delicately put it on his shoulder. Her touch was as light as if her fingers had been butterfly's wings. Stanford couldn't help but wonder if she was afraid that a firmer pressure might hurt him. She cleared her throat, taking in the sight of his dishevelled hair and clothes.

“You are here,” she stated, her voice gentle and quiet. He wasn't able to tell, if she was happy about it or frightened by that fact. “What happened?,” she asked, clearly worried.

He wanted to tell her—tell her how he had asked his brother to help him, how they had gotten into a fight and he'd ended up being shoved into the running portal. “You are alive…” It was all he could say, raising his hand to softly stroke her cheek, slowly tracing his fingertips from a cheekbone to a chin.

She was a bit taken aback by that gesture, but smiled nonetheless. “Yes, I am,” she confirmed, looking him in the eyes.

No more words were needed as they slowly drank in each other's presence.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a few more ideas, so hopefully I'll write more ^^
> 
> 'Till the next time, then! :D


End file.
